Read More

Cllr Richard Davies, the council's executive member for highways and transport, has said the lane closures and amount of time being taken over the roadworks may seem excessive to motorists, but they are absolutely necessary to make sure the embankment which holds up the road does not deteriorate further.

In a video released by the council, Cllr Davies said: "I think as ever with these type of invest to save schemes, short term pain is definitely long term gain.

Works are underway to stop slippage at the A17

"I'm stood here at the A17 at Sleaford where work is ongoing to restore the embankment which has been slipping and is in need of repair.

"The embankment itself was built in the 1970s to enable traffic to get over the A153 and railway line, but in the last 40 years signs of age have started to creep in and work is now ongoing to underpin the road and prepare it for future use."

Read More

He added: "What we are doing is reinforcing the structural integrity of the embankment, but also ensuring that water is drained away from the site correctly and efficiently for the benefit of all road users.

"Anybody who has driven on this stretch of road in the last few weeks can't help but have noticed the extensive set of roadworks we have out and, at sometimes, it is not always apparent what work is ongoing.

Works at the Sleaford bypass

"One of the key things to recognise is that most of the work is going on under the road and at the side of it, so while it is important we have lane closures in place so workers can operate safely at the side of the road, most of the big and heavy works people won't necessarily be seen as people are driving through the road works.

"But I think as ever, with these type of invest to save schemes, the short term pain is definitely a long term gain."

Despite lane closures until April, drivers will still be able to make their way along the road, as one lane in each direction will be kept open.

The embankment repair project will cost £2.4m in total and is being funded by £5.4m allocated to the county council by the Department of Transport.

It was awarded to help reduce congestion and upgrade and improve the maintenance of highways.

From December 4 the westbound lanes were set to be closed for six weeks, with traffic diverted on to the eastbound carriageway.

The closure at the A17

After the westbound repair works the eastbound carriageway will be closed for six weeks, and eastbound traffic will be moved on to the westbound carriageway.

After these closures, single lane closures on both directions of the A17 will be in place for the remainder of the works.